History of Pennsylvania volunteers, 1861-5; prepared in compliance with acts of the legislature, by Samuel P. Bates.

EIGHTY-THIIRID REGIMENT."
THE Erie Regiment, for three months' service, commanded by Colonel John
W. IMLane, had hardly been disbanded when the news of the disaster at
Bull Run aroused the nation to a new sense of danger, and the intention,
which had been previously expressed, was immediately renewed by Colonel
MILane, of raising a regiment for three years' service. Having received an
order on the 24th of July, from the Hon. Simon Cameron, Secretary of War.
Colonel M'Lane issued a call, and in less than five weeks nearly a thousand
men had responded, embracing nearly three hundred of the old regiment, principally from the counties of Erie, Crawford. Warren, Venango, and Mercer.
They rendezvoused at Camp M'Lane, near the city of Erie, where, on the 8th
of September, they were mustered into the United States service, and the regiment was organized by the selection of the following field officers: John W.
M'Lane, Colonel; Strong Vincent, Lieutenant Colonel; Dr. Louis H. Naghel,
Major.
On the 18th of September it proceeded to Washington, and for a week was
encamped at Meridian Hill, where it was uniformed, and supplied with: Harper's Ferry muskets. It then moved to Arlington Heights, and subsequently
to Hall's Hill, where it was assigned to the Third Brigade of Porter's Division. t It was in line with the Army of the Potomac. extending from Chain
Bridge, on the right, to a point below Alexandria on the left. It was here
subjected to a rigid course of instruction and discipline. General Butterfield,
imbued with a high sense of the duties of a soldier, was a strict disciplinarian.
The men of the Eighty-third proved apt to learn. Observance of orders was
rigidly exacted, and instruction in the manual of arms and bayonet exer.
cise was systematically given. Company and regimental drills were daily
practiced, brigade drills three times a week, and the men were held accountable for order and cleanliness, by a regular and minute inspection of clothing,
arms, and accoutrements. The best shots at target firing were publicly acknowledged. The regiment soon became noted for the excellence of its drill
and its soldierly appearance. On one occasion, General M'Clellan, in passing
along the lines with his staff, rode up to Colonel M'Lane, and said:' Colonel,
I congratulate you on having one of the very best regiments in the army?
and General Butterfield, in a general order, said: " The General command*A history of the Eighty-third, one of the very best and most readable of its class, by Major
Amos M. Judson, is published by the Erie Dispatch company, from which, by permission of
the author, most of the facts embraced in this record are drawn.
t Organization of the Third Brigade of Porter's Division, afterwards the First Division of the
Fifth Corps; Seventeenth Regiment New York Volunteers, Colonel Lansing; Sixteenth Regiment Michigan Volunteers, Colonel Stockton;. Forty-fourth Regiment New York Volunteers,
Colonel Rice; El ty-third Regiment Penn ania Volunteers, Colonel MI'Lane.